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Cocktail chat: The Richardson, Brooklyn

10 January 2025 By Ted Simmons

The Richardson in Brooklyn has found success, and longevity, as a classic corner bar. We visited to find out what makes it so popular.

The Richardson Brooklyn _DSF2448 — Joel Lee Kulp: ‘We’re developing a clientele that wants to try new things’

*This feature was originally published in the June 2024 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.

In an angular block in Brooklyn’s East Williamsburg neighbourhood, where things are seemingly as they always have been, a calcified version of New York, with its pink façades and vintage signage, The Richardson is serving all manner of drinks. While most bars offer hypersegmentation, specialising in beer, wine, spirits, or cocktails, The Richardson finds a way to cater to all without sacrificing a sense of curation and discovery.

That’s because the entire beverage programme is presented through the lens of Joel Lee Kulp, a seasoned bartender and bar manager who opened The Richardson in 2008 with a motto of ‘Not done fancy, just done right’. Sixteen years and one pandemic later, that ethos has not only kept The Richardson afloat, but solidified it as a neighbourhood hub. “My philosophy as far as the bar business and hospitality in general, honestly, even in life, is to treat people well, and you’re gonna get it back,” Kulp says. “You gotta respect people walking in the door to come to you. I recognise this is a special environment for people.”

Kulp likens The Richardson to a traditional New York pub, Irish or not, in its ambience and offerings. It’s not a dive and it’s not a cocktail bar, but rather a third thing, where there is no room for pretence, judgement, or Pabst Blue Ribbon, a staple of Brooklyn bars. The atmosphere is welcoming, the decor is refined, and the bartenders are both kind and knowledgeable.

“This is not the room where bartenders are keepers of secrets, unmarked bottles, and mystic potions,” Kulp says, noting that he wanted to create a dependable space where there was a sense of cohesion no matter the time of day or day of the week. “If there’s a word you don’t understand, you don’t know how to pronounce it, you’re not sure what’s in it – ask before you taste. Let’s figure it out. Do you want to try this cocktail or not?”

He recalls one patron who, on a busy night, ordered a Manhattan on the rocks, saying that at a previous bar, she was denied the drink because it is traditionally served up.

“I told her, anybody that tells you they’re not going to make it that way, you should just leave. You’re in the wrong spot, and they don’t have your best interest in mind,” he says. “What am I, so precious? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Neighbourhood institution

It is this attitude that helps to separate The Richardson from other New York bars and one that has made it a neighbourhood institution. While cocktail prices throughout the city continue to climb, upwards of US$22 in some venues, drinks at The Richardson hover between US$14 and US$17, a feature Kulp says can be attributed to figuring out his margins early and locking in a friendly lease. “There are certain mathematical equations that in the industry we hold to be true, and now they’re just not anymore,” Kulp says.

He wonders if the current New York bar scene is like the wild west or if everything has always been this crazed. “If we were unlocking the doors today, I think we’d probably be in a similar position to a lot of these other new bars.”

While The Richardson indeed has something for everyone, that is not to say that it has everything. It does not carry, for example, Laphroaig or The Macallan, but instead offers Kilchoman or Dalmore for those who request a peaty or Sherried dram.

“There are a lot of big brands that we’ve never carried from day one,” Kulp says. “There are certain bottles that you have for certain reasons and certain bottles that you don’t have for certain reasons, and that is something that I’ve tried to bring to The Richardson in every category.”

As a result, The Richardson’s clientele has become more trusting and adventurous. Perhaps that’s because drinkers are smarter than ever – Kulp says that they have shifted from ‘fresh squeezed lemon juice’ on the menu to simply ‘lemon’ as consumer standards have elevated – but also because Kulp and his team have done the work.

“We’re developing a clientele that wants to try new things,” Kulp says. “The Richardson is the first bar that I’ve worked at where people don’t feel the need to call their pour on a classic cocktail.”

The house Manhattan uses Dolin vermouth and Wild Turkey 101 Rye, while the house Old Fashioned uses Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, and a sugar cube rather than syrup. It is yet another example of how Kulp has developed a beverage programme with specificity and perspective. “It gets sweeter,” he says, so that by the time you reach the bottom all you want is another.

Kulp is a lover of spirits, and favours drinks that allow the base to shine. Specific to whiskey, he’s developed a relationship with Wild Turkey, and The Richardson carries three single-barrel picks of Russell’s Reserve. After Buffalo Trace discontinued its single-barrel programme in 2013, Kulp sought a new partner that could supply them with enough whiskey for thirsty Brooklynites, becoming the first on-premise location in New York to have its own barrel from the brand.

Bottles of Wild Turkey Generations and Master’s Keep are more visible than Pappy Van Winkle, which serves to underscore Kulp’s commitment to doing things his way. There is a slushy machine that, in early May, is spinning a frozen Bloody Mary, though there is a book full of seasonal recipes. There’s draft beer, non-alcoholic cocktails, and a full page dedicated to wine. The bar staff know the loyal list of regulars by their first names, and their usual orders are poured without so much as a word exchanged between them. “People find what we have to offer here refreshing,” Kulp says. “The speciality is treating people well. That’s what we do; it kind of doesn’t matter what you’re drinking.”